In Perú, I'd spotted a chess with Spaniard and Inca as opposing sides; I didn't have the cash on hand and couldn't get it, though. Then, a few years later, visiting the handicrafts market in Masaya, Nicaragua, I saw another set--no Inca history in Central America, but still a cool (and inexpensive) souvenir. The faces on the tiny pieces are expressive--I can only imagine the real, almost larger-than-life consternation the Inca must've felt when a handful of European soldiers and horses turned their Andean world upside down in the 16th century...